CIWS an old system but still around

[RetNavy]

http://www.foxnews.com/tech/2015/10/27/ ... obnetwork#


I was an CIWS Tech from 1984 until I retired in 1998.. the system I worked on could fire 3000 rds/min of 20MM Depleted Uranium (actual round was 9MM). It would track its own bullets to hit the target... When I left the Navy, the systems were up to 6000rds/min. The M61A1 20MM gun is also the same gun the was used on the PUFFS in Vietnam.... this system has come along way since I worked them and I hope the Navy keeps it in service for a long time...

just as a side note, reading the comments at the end, one commentator mentioned that the FC's and GM's loved to light it up.... FC's were the only ones that worked on the system.... No GM's..... cleaning the six barrels after a PAC or TDU shoot was always fun

for those who haven't firgured it out.... thats what my avatar is.... Navy Rating for an FC or Fire Controlman..... (used to be a FTG)

[ELB]

"The M61A1 20MM gun..." is very popular. It was developed by the USAF in the late 1940s/early 1950s for use by jet fighters, and variants have been used on USAF and USN fighters right up thru the F-22, plus bombers, gunships, helicopters, tracked vehicles, and of course ships. Quite a piece of machinery.

[threoh8]

I spent some time around the Army's M163 Vulcan. Awesome on ground targets, too!